Uggah (right) watches the first PICKids recepient in Sarawak to receive the Covid-19 vaccine jab, Ivann Muammar Imaan, at SGH today while Dr Sim (third right) looks on. – Photo by Roystein Emmor.
KUCHING (Feb 3): The state-level National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Kids (PICKids) aged five to 11 years old has been launched today with a total of 30 children with various comorbidities selected to receive the Pfizer vaccine at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) here.
The programme was launched by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian.
Uggah at a press conference after the launch said the 30 selected children included those who were ‘immunocompromised’ and underwent follow-up treatment at SGH.
“Provisions for children with other comorbidities will continue in government and private hospitals throughout Sarawak.
“Vaccination dates at other government hospitals in Sarawak will be announced from time to time too,” he said.
Meanwhile, Uggah said, starting Feb 5, other school children will receive the vaccine either at their respective schools or at the vaccination center (PPV) which has been planned according to their respective Divisional Health Offices.
He said the implementation of the vaccination was done according to the appointments at the school, and parents were encouraged to contact the school to find out the date of their child’s appointment from time to time.
“Parents do not have to worry if it is not in their MySejahtera app because the appointments are according to their respective schools.
“Besides that, for those who missed an appointment, parents can contact the private medical practitioner involved in the programme or the nearest government clinic to set new appointment dates,” he said.
According to Uggah, there were 272,500 children eligible for PICKids in Sarawak, or about 9.6 per cent of the total population of the state.
Elaborating further, he said until now there was no policy stipulating that children who did not receive vaccinations could not physically attend school.
“Education policy is under the federal government and until now there is no policy that does not allow children not to receive vaccines to school instead we continue to monitor schools,” he said.
Uggah said the results of a public survey of 40,000 respondents from January 26 to January 31, 2022 by the Sarawak State Health Department on parental acceptance of children’s vaccinations found that 59.7 per cent strongly agreed while 25.3 per cent were unsure, and 15 per cent disagreed.
He said the main reason respondents disagreed and were unsure was because of worries about complications, safety of the vaccine, and wanting to be given the advantage of choosing the type of vaccine.
Meanwhile, Dr Sim, who is also Public Health, Local Government and Housing Minister, said PICKids was conducted under the supervision of a Pediatrician or Family Physician.
“Why we need to vaccinate children is due to protecting them from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) and the long-term effects of Covid-19 infection.
“Even though they have mild syndrome, it can have a devastating effect on children,” said Dr Sim.